Tag: safe

I almost canceled my trip to South Korea this year due to MERS virus but I am glad I didn’t. For those of you wondering, I would say South Korea is actually pretty safe to travel this summer as most of the MERS infections occurred in hospitals. So, just stay away from hospitals, clean your hands well with hand sanitizer and you should be good to go.

The media has really blown MERS out of proportion, really frightening the public. But as of this week, more people are actually going out and I barely see anyone wearing a mask as you can see in my video. (Can you count how many people are wearing masks?)

For those of you who don’t know, my home town is actually the Gangnam district in Seoul, Korea. My family moved there when I was around 3 years old, lived there until I immigrated to America when I was 9. I could safely say I know Gangnam better than most people. I still get asked directions from Koreans when I am in Korea and I don’t even live here anymore.

Anyways, I always wanted to find a cool way to show you what the real Gangnam is like. I know y’all know Gangnam through Psy’s Gangnam Style music but what is it like to visit Gangnam in Korea? Well, I figured a timelapse 4K video would be perfect for that so for the last two days I shot timelapse video in many places where I hang out in the Gangnam district, which I would say is the most popular destination in all of Gangnam. What you are seeing is pretty much the center of Gangnam district, this is where everyone meets up and there’s a ton of clubs also for those of you party goers.

I used my Panasonic GH4 with my Tokina 11-16mm mostly with a bit of Canon 24mm F2.8 and 18mm F1.8. This is actually my first try at timelapse video in a city location but Gangnam worked out to be perfect place to practice since there’s millions of people and cars, all moving constantly.

FYI, Seoul is the second largest populated city in the world with population of 25.6 million, this is definitely a place to visit. Think of it like New York but with lots of Korean food, Korean women/men, and a subway system that’s light years ahead of New York. (Sorry New Yorkers, but your subway is one of the dirtiest/filthiest public transportation system I have ever seen.)

I should try to incorporate some of my new learnings with timelapse into my future High On Android videos so stay tuned! And please do let me know if there’s any suggestions to make my timelapse better for those of you professional photographers out there as I am learning everything on the go, thanks!